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Progress versus precaution : international organizations and the use of pesticides, 1940s to 1970s
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0940-3566
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Comparativ, 2023, Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 611-628
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RIBI FORCLAZ, Amalia, UNGER, Corinna R., Progress versus precaution : international organizations and the use of pesticides, 1940s to 1970s, Comparativ, 2023, Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 611-628 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/75560
Abstract
This article investigates how international organizations responded to the increased use of synthetic pesticides in the decades after WWII. It does so by analyzing and comparing the debates that took place among experts in the International Labour Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, and the European Economic Community. As the archives of these organizations reveal, knowledge on the potential risks of pesticide use existed amongst international expert groups already from the late 1940s onwards, much earlier than commonly assumed. The new chemicals were discussed at various international meetings, and scientific evidence circulated that highlighted the multifaceted risks of pesticide use and their toxic residues. Yet international bodies downplayed these risks and put the users in charge of their own safety. It was only in the late 1960s, in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy for predominantly economic reasons, that the European Commission took steps towards the establishment of a regulatory framework.
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Published online: 18 October 2023